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Entries tagged: Saris Cycling Group

Bike valet is a valuable, visible and fun way to promote cycling at community events. But there’s one small hitch: How do advocates get all those bicycle racks to the site of the festivities?

Well, Saris Cycling Group teamed up with the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin and came up with a way to fit 200 bikes into the back of a single car.

Dave Schlabowske, the Bike Fed’s new communications director, suggests that bike valet is an important — and growing — asset for bicycle advocates. According to Dave, the top five benefits include:

• “LUXURY – Yes, luxury and bicycling can fit together! People LOVE the valet! For downtown Madison events where bike parking is limited, bicyclists are delighted to use the valet and have told us that it is so convenient and feels like a luxury.”
• “BICYCLE PAMPERING- For those bicyclists who have a shiny new Trek or a Schwinn that they adore… their bike is escorted to a secure parking spot with no worry about being scratched or dinged.”
• “THE HUB- We’ve been surprised to see the spontaneous bicycle community that grows around the bike valet… The valet becomes a gathering place for bicycle conversation and camaraderie. This type of community-building is critical to increasing bicycling and forwarding the mission of the Bike Fed.”
• “OUTREACH- A bike valet provides a targeted marketing opportunity. Not only are we encouraging more bicycling, but it also gives us the opportunity to bring bicyclists to us and begin to engage them in the work we are doing. While we are parking their bike, it gives us a chance to share our latest news and program updates.”
• “WE’RE EVERYWHERE! We try to place the valet in a high-traffic area near the event entrance, not just because it’s most visible and convenient for bicyclists, but also because of the reaction we receive from other event attendees. They are surprised when they see 200 bikes parked in the valet racks. This simple visual can be a powerful marketing tool: “Yes, many people do actually bike and you can, too!”

With so many benefits, the Bike Fed was looking to increase and expand its valet presence. But there was one pressing problem — transporting the bike racks. That is, until Saris stepped in with a solution.

“It was very important that Saris help us develop a bike valet parking system that we could easily provide without outside help and that would not be a strain on our budget,” Schlabowske wrote last month. “With this in mind, Saris designed a special rack that could be easily transported in a standard size car or on a fortified bike trailer. Each rack breaks down into three pieces and is very light weight. We’ve been able to haul 25 event racks that park 200 bikes easily and conveniently in the back of a Prius!”

Already this summer, he Bike Fed has parked more than 1,000 bikes at valet events and plans to serve at least 1,000 more cyclists before the season ends. Last week, the Bike Fed got big exposure when it provided valet at the opening home football game for the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

For more information on the Bike Fed program, contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).